Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

174 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel During the 1916 preparatory apparitions from the angel o f Portugal to the three children, the following prayer was revealed: Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity o f Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles o f the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which He him­ self is offended. And, through the infinite merits o f His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart o f Mary, I beg o f You the conversion o f poor sinners. And from our Merciful Lord to Blessed Faustina we have the revealed Chaplet Prayer: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity o f Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. What is the common theological foundation of these two revealed celestial prayers? Firstly, there is a foundation o f Eucharistic reparation, which comes in several forms. Eucharistic reparation is first and fore­ most in the form o f the Holy Sacrifice o f the Mass offered by the ordained priest, and Eucharistic Adoration. But note that in these two heavenly movements for this century there is a further dimension of Eucharistic reparation, a dimension which also extends to the laity. In the exercise of their royal priesthood, the laity offers already consecrat­ ed hosts, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity o f our Lord Jesus Christ, to appease the justice o f the Eternal Father. The Father looks down and sees the sins of humanity. He first sees the priest, the one set aside to offer the Sacrifice, the one who offers the Eucharist in continuation o f the Sacrifice of Calvary. The Father looks down and sees, amidst the ubiquitous sin of darkness in the world, these shoots o f light, the Sacrifice of the Mass offered by our priests. And because of the mystical lights breaking the darkness o f sin, the Father does not respond in justice, which is also a part o f His nature, but rather He responds in Mercy. That is why Fulton Sheen often quipped that if the priest does not understand, first and foremost, that he is one set aside to offer the Sacrifice for the people, he will forever have an identity cri­ sis. This is the pre-eminent task o f the priest, to offer the Sacrifice so that Mercy is the response of the Father rather than justice.